Birthday Girl
by Bailz
Summary: Yes. I, Christopher Timothy Plovert, may possibly be in love at least in like with my best friend, Claire Lyons." Collaboration between Bailz and Torqueo Animaverto.


**welcome one, welcome all, to Abby (**Torqueo Animaverto**) and myself (**bailz**) first collab. sorry if me and her double!alerted you. XD. **

**it pains me to say this, but Kemp is barely mentioned. it hurts, and it hurts Claire too, but we figured, a nice Chris/Claire would be cute. it was. i swear. **

**Disclaimer: we don't own the clique (note the lack of super claire/kemp friendships, mega Clairington, and creepisaurs, like Ethan Bates. it proves we're not lying here!) or the song Birthday Girl, which this is loosley based off of (better known as the song from the clorox commercial with the bathtubs) because that belongs to andrew rodreguiez. **

**hope you enjoy it! (:  
**

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"So Claire, do you have something to wear to your party tonight? I imagine you would, but with your resistance to shopping in any other place than The Gap, I doubt it." Dylan said good-naturedly as I stood at my locker, grabbing my messenger bag and lacrosse stick. I looked at Dylan in disbelief when she asked me the initial question. Then, I remembered that Dylan was not with us for the five hour shopping excursion I had to undergo with the rest of the girls. Where was she? Oh yeah, she-

"had other plans, and I'm sorry about that. Thanks, by the way, for diffusing some of the anger Massie had harbored up for me. For a second, I thought she would slap me so hard that her French-tips would fall off from the wind whistling through them. Seriously, Claire, I don't know where I would be if it weren't for you." She gave me a grateful smile, her jade eyes filled with nothing but relief and gratitude.

"Well, Marvil, I guess you'll have to find out. The birthday girl and I have plans." My best friend of all time came up to me and slung a muscular, tanned arm around my neck.

"Oh shit, Chris, I'm so sorry, but I forgot about our plans and made plans with-"

"Cam," Chris said flatly along with Dylan. Wait, why would _she _be upset? Chris, I could understand because I was breaking plans with him _again, _but Dylan?

"That's right, Clairebear, you have plans with me." Cam said smugly as if he was trying to rub it in someone's face. "Dylan, always pleasurable to see you." He gave her a cocky smirk and Dylan rolled her eyes, but returned to gesture with a coy smile. "Chris." Ever since the beginning of freshman year when Chris and I got really close, Cam has always been, I don't know, jealous of our friendship or something. It was like they were competing for my attention, the best friend and the boyfriend. If I had to chose, I really didn't know who I would pick.

Chris has always been there for me when I needed someone. He always made me feel loved when I didn't think I was. We had almost everything in common, with just the right balance of differences in opinion. The countless times when Cam and I broke up, Chris was right there, by my side, combating all of my insecurities. He was my Chris.

And then there was Cam. Cam was my boyfriend and the first guy to really show any interest in me. He made me feel special and he was adorable when he got jealous. Plus, the fact that he was totally gorgeous didn't hurt at all.

"All right Claire, have fun with this thumb-sucker. I'll be out getting you the most amazing birthday gift in the world."

"You haven't gotten her a gift yet? Man, what a bad friend." Cam huffed in disbelief and I rolled my eyes. Cam was always saying crap like that to just make Chris angry. They used to be such good friends. I was always wondering what killed it.

"Oh, shut up Cam." I said shortly after Chris rolled his eyes and walked away. "I'll see you later, Chris!" I yelled after him, hoping he would turn around and give me a hug, or something. Unfortunately, all he did was bring a hand up and let a short wave roll off his fingers.

"Thanks, Cam." I said angrily.

"Oh come on baby, do you really want to hang out with that glass-licker?" He asked as he grabbed my backpack off my shoulders and Dylan walked away.

"Reading the Private series and taking lessons from Noelle, Mr. Fisher?"Massie's strong voice carried down the wide hallway.

Cam rolled his mismatched eyes and squeezed my shoulder in frustration. I winced slightly his grip caught a bruise that I got from practice. "Sorry" he apologized quietly as Massie's heels clicked behind us.

"Hello young Camilla. Claire." She nodded in Cam's direction and smiled to me.

"Everything will be set up when you get back to the house, Claire. You don't have to worry about anything."

"Wow Massie, thanks for doing all this."

"It's no problem. After all, you only turn seventeen once." With those parting words, she walked away, the five-inch Louis Vuitton's reverberating on the linoleum floors.

"So Claire, I can't wait until you see what I got you for your birthday. It'll be so much better than that square's."

"Cam, can you just lay off the Chris jokes? I don't make jokes about you and Dylan being such close friends, do I?" I asked angrily. Cam's pale cheeks blushed a burgundy as I said this and again, for the second time today, I was baffled completely. Then again, maybe it was just Cam's version of saying I was right.

"You're right. I'll try to stop, but I make no promises."

"That's really all I ask." Even though it wasn't, I knew that with Cam, everything was a compromise and you had to make it seem like he was always getting his way.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Happy birthday!" A chorus of at least a hundred voices shouted to me as I walked into the gym. A bright pink flush managed to creep up my cheeks as Massie came over to the doorway, her perfect skirt moving in time with her swaying hips.

I marveled at the elegant decorations. The floor was set up to look like a New York City night club with the squares and lights underneath. A bar was in the back corner of the room that people were already gravitating towards. How in the world this was all approved with the parents, I had no clue and how half of it was possible, I was not sure; I loved it despite all of its impossibilities.

"Oh my God, all of it looks amazing! How the hell is this possible?"

"Don't ask dear Claire, just revel in it and enjoy. It's all for you." She grinned, giving me an air-kiss and depositing a champagne glass in my hand. I took a small sip before going off to explore who else was here, where Cam was, and why the hell I didn't see Chris.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Excuse me, excuse me!" I commanded politely as drunk bodies pressed up against each other to a constant beat. Two hours had went by and I saw Cam twice, hadn't seen Chris at all, and had been forced to dance with five different guys that I didn't even _know_.

"Claire! Claire!" I heard Chris's voice calling me from the outrageous crowd. His body squeezed between couples as his happy face showed up in front of mine.

"Chris! Hey!" I shouted over the loud singing of Sean Kingston talking about the always oxymoron, cool fire. Chris captured me into a crisp, warm hug that seemed to envelope me and fill in all the little spaces. It made me seem complete even if it was just for this moment in time.

"Claire," he sighed into my hair and we stood there for a minute, just enjoying each other's company without any outside influences. "Oh," he said after a few seconds. "I got your gift. You want to open int now?" He asked eagerly, clearly excited over his choice.

"I'd love to." A lot of people had been coming up to me for this reason, but I was never as excited as I was now to open a gift.

Chris smiled his classic wide grin and handed a small square package over to me. "Here you go. I hope you like it. It took me forever to find it."

We found a couch to sit on so I could tear greedily into the wrapping paper, but as soon as my finger was under the paper, we had a visitor.

"Claire! There you are, I've been looking for you all evening." He said, grabbing the gift out of my hands and pushing it back into Chris's hands. "You and I need to dance." He told me as if I was his puppet.

"Claire, you realize that you don't _have _to dance?" Chris asked like I hadn't heard of free will before.

"I know, Chris." I said as Cam tugged on my hand impatiently. "I want to dance."

Chris nodded. "I'll be outside. Come find me if you want to see your gift." He said and before I could say anything else, he was gone through the crowd of people.

I sighed. Why did the universe always have to be working against me?

Cam pulled me through the crowd and I danced mechanically, moving back and forth along with the beat and rhythm. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Cam whispered in my ear, "I'm going to go get us a drink."

I nodded mutely and continued dancing more freely now that he was gone. Three songs played on, two drunk congratulations were given to me, and ten minutes went by with no sign of Cam. I officially got fed up of waiting on his slow ass, and went over to the bar to hope that they had a coke, or at the very least, a non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri.

Sitting upon one of the stools and asking the bar tender, who just so happened to be Kemp, for a Coke, I got it and fiddled with the straw. Why did it seem that Cam was avoiding me? I had only seen him three times since this party started and all of those times were about fifteen minutes long and he always seemed like he had something better to be doing.

"That bastard." Kemp mumbled under his breath from where he was standing next to the ice machine.

I looked up and swiveled my head in the direction that Kemp was looking, only to find Cam, _my boyfriend,_ pressed up against a skanky red-head, his tongue shoved in her mouth in a very unattractive way.

"Cam?" I called, with hopes that it really wasn't him.

He detached himself very quickly from her lips neck, and turned his head in my direction, his eyes growing huge.

"_Dylan?!"_ I tried not to screech as the girl shook her hair back in place.

My heart beat out a heavy, frantic pace as Cam opened his mouth to explain something with a preposterous excuse, only to have Dylan cut him off.

"Sorry Claire, but this is what happens when you're cheating on your boyfriend with your best friend."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" I asked angrily, trying to fight back the tears of anger and heart break.

"We all knew it. You and Chris were always so close, what does it feel like now?" Cam answered snidely, his eyes narrowing.

"Chris and I were just friends. Always just friends. But you never trusted me enough when I told you that, did you?"

"You were always-"

"Stop it Cam. We're through." I said as a final answer before walking away, leaving him no room for discussion.

--

Lying on the grass separating the Block's estate and the Lyon's tiny guest house, I knew two things for sure.

1) If the guys were to see me now, they'd be cracking gay jokes for the rest of his life. And, could I blame them? No. I was acting all "Edward Sullen-y", as Massie and Claire like to call it, and how much gayer can you get? Not much.

2) He was the worst best friend on this entire planet. It was his best friend's birthday and yet there he lay, avoiding the party in all it's entirety. Could anyone blame him? Well, yes, many people could, it was a very jerkish move on his part, but he did have a good excuse. Nobody in their right mind, or even their wrong mind, would want to see the love of their life dance and flirt their head off with some unattractive jerk.

Yes. I, Christopher Timothy Plovert, may possibly in love (at least in like), with my best friend, Claire Lyons. I can admit it in my head, it's the saying it to my best friend that gets me nervous and tongue-tied. So, I avoid that completely. I also may be losing it, as I'm pretty much talking to myself.

I sat up then, after realizing there's a very high chance I'm losing my mind, choosing not to look so Edward Sullen-y. As I looked to the back doors of the Block estate, hoping I might see Claire burst through the back doors, Claire did. Burst through the back doors, that is.

She was sprinting towards me, as if running for her life, and as she neared I noticed something. She was crying. It took about three more seconds for her to hurtle into my arms, sobbing into my shirt before I knew what happened.

"Claire," I murmured, rubbing her back in, what I hope was, a comforting way. "Claire, what happened?" I asked softly, causing her to sob harder. I continued comforting her to the best of my ability (which isn't really saying much. I mean, come on, I'm a seventeen year old boy), waiting for her answer.

"C-" She released a shaky breath. "am." She ended, dissolving into tears in a way only a teenage girl could once again.

"Cam?" I asked, making sure I heard her right, and she nodded into my chest. I wanted to stand up and find the punk right then and there, but I thought better of it. "What about him?" I asked her as calmly as possible.

"He... And her... Kissing..." She was no longer sobbing, she had a calm look about her, actually, but she was still breathing heavily.

"Cam and _who _kissing, Claire?" I asked, my anger quickly rising up, and she just shook her head. "Claire, tell me. Right now."

She took a massive inhale, and let out an equally massive exhale, before saying, simply, with no emotion, "Dylan."

"I'm going to kill both of them. Wait right here. I'll be right back." I stood up, about to march right into the Massie's and have a few words with both of them, and Claire just grabbed my hand, halting me.

"No. You're not. I don't care, Chris. Being with Cam was becoming a burden anyways." She said calmly, pulling me down beside her again. "Stay here with me a little longer, please." She asked it in the voice i couldn't say no to, and she knew it well.

"Fine. I'll stay right here. No killing. Got it." I watched as Claire took her own spot on the ground, lying on her back and staring at the darkening sky. Chris didn't lay this time, choosing to sit and watch his best friend with a small smile.

"Claire,""Chris,"

"I have to say something."

"I'm all ears."

"You might not want to hear it."

"That doesn't mean I'm not going to make you tell me."

"Claire?"

"Tell me, Christopher."

"It might ruin our friendship."

"I don't think there is anything you can do to ruin our friendship." She paused for a moment, thinking her words over. "Well, except murder Todd. I wouldn't be your friend anymore if you did that."

"Haha. This might, even if it doesn't involve killing your little brother. "

"Tell me and we'll find out!"

"I really, really like you. I mean, you're my best friend and I'm completely happy if you want to keep it that way if you don't feel the same or if you're heart is too broken to even think about it or..."

"Chris. You're babbling again."

"Am I? Oh, I guess I am. Well, where was I? Oh yeah. I like you. Like, more than friend like."

"Well, that might change our friendship."

"See! I told you! I knew I shouldn't have said anything! Why couldn't i have just-?"

"Chris. It'd change our friendship, because I feel the exact same way."

"You do?! That's great. Great, great, great." I continued babbling, because babbling is what i do best. I mean, come on, I'm Chris Plovert. I was put on this earth to babble.

"Shut up, Chris." She repeated, sitting up, leaning in, and giving me a super quick kiss on my lips. More of a peck, actually. "I'd like to take it slow, though, if you don't mind."

"Mind?! I lasted four years 'taking it slow'. As long as i can call you my girlfriend, I'm completely content."

"Cheesy." She laughed, laying back down and pulling me down with her.

Lying on the grass separating the Block's estate and the Lyon's tiny guest house, I knew two things for sure.

1) If i wasn't already in love with Claire (as that's a lot of emotion for a teenage boy), then i was falling more in love with her everyday.

2) Cam was going to hate this.

"Happy birthday, Claire." I whispered, taking her hand in mine.

**_"Late in the evening and I'm just waiting for my birthday girl to come and rescue me."_**

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_review mine! not abby's! don't fall into peer pressure! **

**haha. until next time, **

**Bailey.  
**


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